Notes / Commercial Description:
Abbey Ale honors the ancient tradition of monks who perfected the art of brewing beer to support the monastery and their "liquid bread". We offer up our support and thank them with a 25¢ donation to St. Joseph's Abbey with every bottle sold of this heavenly brew. Dark amber in color, the aroma of caramel, fruits and cloves invites you to contemplate the creamy head of this "Dubbel" or double ale. Abita Abbey Ale is a malty brew, top-fermented and bottle aged to rapturous perfection.

Reviews by brewskifan55:

A: Clear amber with a tan one finger head that lingers. Big bubbles hang around the abbey. I give it a four for the excellent abbey etching on the bottle.

S: Belgian yeast, caramel, malt and cloves.

T: A strong start. Dark fruit emerges with cherries and dates. Malts slide in to pray. Sweet caramel begs forgiveness. Cloves round out this holy nectar with a subtle, dry finish. Alcohol closes the door to the monastery with a silent, monk-like buzz.

M: medium, creamy. Good body. Really coats the tongue.

O: I'm really quite impressed. Abita got it right! This is one of my new favorites from the brewery. Will definitely drink again.

22-oz. bottle into a Maredsous glass (which I'm gonna call a chalice, for lack of more precise terminology)

a - almost disconcertingly clear. amber with a very thin film of head that slowly dissipates

s - nice fruity, bready esters come right up at you out of the glass

t - some classic Belgian-style flavors come through. sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. a hint of tartness from the yeast and the darker malt flavors balance it out, and there's a mild touch of spice in there.

m - sufficiently viscous with some warming, drying sensations at the end from the alcohol. carbonation stops well short of fizziness.

d - tasty, balanced, and enjoyable. not exactly transcendence in a glass, but well worth the price of admission. definitely a food beer, not a stand-alone sipper. called Abbey Ale, but described as a Dubbel on the bottle. at 8% ABV, I'm inclined to go with the latter. I'll make it a point to share a bottle with a fellow beer dork who only thinks of Abita in terms of Purple Haze or Turbo Dog (as I most certainly did prior to drinking this).

First time with this brewer. Poured a clear copper with a big, creamy white head. Decent lacing. Sweet yeast and herbal aroma, with a malty gingerbread scent. Thick, but not syrupy, mouthfeel. Stronger than expected in the spiciness; again, like gingerbread. A noticeable clove and banana flavor as well. Turns sweet and fruity towards the finish. No heavy malt or sugar flavors I expected with a dubbel. Leans more towards a trippel in spice and yeast. I liked it.

Nose: dark sugars - caramel to toffee, fruit, hint of anise, pepper.
Pours rich auburn with a slight have under a moussey 1" persistent lightly tan tinted foam cap.
Palate: equally malt and yeast driven. The malt flavors are a complex of caramel to rich toffee supported by yeast driven dark fruit flavors that are spiced with light pepper and a hint of anise. The toffee lingers long into the aftertaste. Very light hop accent.
The creaminess of the body gives it a medium full feel. The fine carbonation works very well with the rich malts which are balanced by the yeast and alcohol flavors.

220z bomber. Pours an amber color topped with a frothy 3 finger head with good retention. The aroma is extreme malt accented by a variety of sweet fruits. It sits solidly on the tongue, well balanced, not too sticky on the finish, the alcohol is present but not overbearing. A sold effort by Abita.

First of all, let me say that I am very happy to see these new "special" bombers from Abita. I really want to like Abita brews, but none of the regular 12oz beers have stood out in my mind. Sadly, they just don't make me want to buy them again. Well, with the new, 22oz brews, hopefully that'll change.

The Abbey Ale pours with a decent head and looks nice. The aroma is a bit off-putting, though. I appreciate the phenolic character of some Belgian yeasts, and there's some of that "goodness" in this brew, but there's also some bad phenols as well. (For reference, I would say Chimay red or blue has a very good phenolic character.) The taste is better than the aroma, but the "bad" phenols are still there. This is an interesting attempt at an Abbey ale and one that almost works, but ultimately it needs more finesse. Much like the Andygator, the flavors in this brew don't quite gel and makes me think the recipe needs more time to work out the kinks. Well, to be honest, I had Andygator a number of years ago when it was still draft-only. I thought it was "odd...if not off" back then, and I still think it tastes the same in the new bottled form. Odd... Whatever the case, this Abbey Ale is a better Abita beer than most other Abita brews out there. Hey Abita, I'm still pulling for you. Seriously, keep trying with the special release bomber series. I still have faith that you guys can make some killer brews!

Really neat artwork on the painted bomber bottle. Hazy honey ochre colored with a two inch high thick orangey-beige head of foam that settles out slowly leaving broad sheets of lace as the glass tilts.

The lovely aroma is betrayed by the shallow flavor, heavy on cloves and yeast, some peppery spiciness, maybe some molasses, but also an acrid flavor and a heavy metallic note. Seems a dubbel would have more malty depth.

Mouthfeel is thin, lacking body. Great to see something so unexpected from Abita, but could use more complexity and depth of flavor IMO.

First off where did they get these bottles they are so sturdy the glass is heavy as hell. Pours slightly clouded blood burgundy amber hue with a large off white beige head forms fine even lacing, carbonation is not overdone. Silk screened labels with nice artwork including an Abbey with hop vines scattered, I like even though the color spectrum is a bit dull.

Aromatics give off tart grape/raisins with a nice cherry finish, mild banana and spicy yeast traits kickin' as well. A touch of dark caramelized malts as well with the alcohol not really coming through thus far.

Flavor more tart slightly nutty, Belgian yeast strain phenols giving off a funky blend of flavors with an herbal spicy finish. Upfront sweet/tart sensations from raisins/banana/and tart apples. Again alcohol is well hidden this beer is a must try and it's very affordable for a bigger beer I've seen it range from 3.99 to 7.99 with each price in that range being extremely worth it.

Mouthfeel, works not as effervescent as some Belgian dubbels and not as cloying with residual candi sugars as some American brewed doubles. Sturdy carbonation not overdone at all carries the medium to full body well, some residual sugars to hit but not to the screaming bloody diabetes levels.

Drinkability overall is quite enjoyable and for anybody with an interest in Abita it's nice to see the transformation from where I started drinking their brews almost ten years ago to the post Katrina professional machine that Abita has become with effective distribution and adventurous new big beer lineup coming out. This is the second in that classification, I'm sad to say that I missed the helles doppelbock Andygator.